


Outside Visiting Hours

by IMAgentMI



Category: Red vs. Blue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-25 23:52:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7552030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IMAgentMI/pseuds/IMAgentMI
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the RvB Fluff War.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Outside Visiting Hours

York lay in bed, one eye closed, the other hidden under layers of gauze. He hovered in darkness, not quite asleep, but unwilling to face the realities that wakefulness would bring. He couldn’t remember how long now it had been since he had awoken, since he received the bad news. The hospital wing did strange things with time, speeding it up and slowing it down in ways that could make important days fly past without you, and yet every hour you laid in bed seemed to be measured in years rather than minutes. All he knew was that it had been too long -- too long to sit alone, too long to think about happens next, too long to wonder what was going to change. York was ready to tackle this with every bit of confidence and determination he possessed, but… when he sits here too long, he can no longer ignore that even with the lights on, he’s still sitting half in darkness. 

He hadn’t seen any of his teammates yet. The doctors were probably keeping them away for this first little while, give him a chance to get his thoughts together and get used to the idea of living the rest of his life half-blind. York didn’t care about that. What he cared about was having his team around him. He wanted to see their faces. He wanted to…

There was a strange feel in the air. A draft, maybe. It felt as though all the air in the room had been stirred at once, replaced with something fresher. York opened his eye and glanced around. No one was sharing the room with him, none of the doctors or nurses were here to check on him. He shrugged his shoulders, turned onto his right side and started to snuggle into his pillow. Then he noticed the flowers. 

There weren’t many. Three yellow roses in a sturdy, almost ugly looking vase sitting on his bedside table. York’s eyes almost popped when he noticed a tiny brown flaw on one of the petals and he sat back up to take a closer look. These weren’t fake. Fresh flowers in space cost a small fortune.

Had they already been here? How did he not notice them before? Okay, let’s be real here, he’s had a lot on his mind. It’s completely possible they simply didn’t register until now. York took a deep breath, and even from here he could smell the unmistakeable scent of roses. There’s no way he could have been that oblivious - could he? Maybe.

He settled back down again, head on his pillow, his one eye scanning the room for anything else he may have missed. Nothing looks different or out of place. He finally lets all the air out of his lungs with a sigh, and closes his eye. 

There is another puff of air in his face and a change in the feel of the room, and he sits straight up in bed. What is that? 

There’s still no one around. There are no fans or vents nearby, he hadn’t heard any doors opening or closing. He wasn’t sure if he was intrigued or annoyed. As he went to lay down again, he noticed a small green book on his night table, next to the flowers. Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”. 

York spun in his sheets, dropped to his stomach and peered over the side of the bed. He thought perhaps North, or Wash or Connie might be hiding there, but there was no one. He leaned further over to check under the bed, but all he could see was the apparatus that allowed the nurses to raise the mattress into a sitting position. There was no way that someone could hide in there. His eye scanned all the way around the wall, but it was obvious that no one was here. 

What the hell? How did these get here? There’s only one door in and out, nobody is in here with him and surely nobody could be… that… fast….

York lays back down immediately, takes a deep breath. He closes his eye, but not all the way. He can still see through his lashes a bit, though it’s hard to focus properly. He holds very still, wishing his heart would stop pounding quite so loudly. 

He barely sees the movement and it’s the air on his face that is his signal. He reaches out, but misses her completely, but feels fingers pass zephyr-light from his shoulder to his wrist as she passes. He bolts up in bed again, but his one eye refuses to cooperate, and he barely registers even the colour of her armour before she’s gone. He turns back to the bedside table, and now there’s an envelope with his name printed neatly on it. He grabs it.

Out in the hallway, Carolina waits out of sight past the door, leaning against the wall and listening to York rip open her card. 

“Agent Carolina.” 

Without a change in expression, she turned to the dark haired man wearing a long white lab coat and a sour expression. “Good evening, Dr. Braxton.”

“I trust that I do not need to remind you that visiting hours aren’t until 0800? I am aware that some of your team apparently have some difficulty telling time, but I did not expect you to be one of them.”

“Indeed. I’m going now. Have a good night, Dr. Braxton.”

“Agent.”

In the room behind her she heard bare feet hit the floor. But by the time York got to the door, she was already gone.


End file.
